Women’s Africa Cup of Nations

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is Africa’s premier women’s football (soccer) tournament, held every two years. The tournament is organized by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF; the governing body for international football in Africa). It first took place in 1991, as the African Women’s Championship, to determine Africa’s representative team in the first FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was renamed the WAFCON from the 2016 edition onward as a counterpart to the men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The 2026 edition, originally scheduled to be held from March 17 to April 3, has been postponed and will now be held from July 25 to August 16.

History

Nigeria won the first tournament, beating Cameroon, which reached the final without playing a single game because many teams withdrew. The second tournament, in 1995, featured Nigeria defeating South Africa, 11–2, over two legs in the final.

In 1998 the WAFCON became an official biennial fixture, with a group stage and knockout rounds. Since then it has taken place every other year, with the exception of the 2020 tournament, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2024 competition, which was delayed for more than a year and held in summer 2025. This delay was officially attributed to scheduling conflicts with the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics women’s football event, in which athletes from Zambia and Nigeria would be participating, but many argued that gender bias and a lack of support for women’s sports also played a role in the postponement.

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From 1998 to 2018 the main tournament featured eight teams. In 2022 the number increased to 12. In November 2025 the CAF announced that the 2026 WAFCON would feature 16 teams. Because the qualification process had been completed at the time of the announcement, the organizers included the four teams that had ranked highest in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings but had failed to otherwise qualify: Cameroon (number 66 in the ranking), Côte d’Ivoire (71), Mali (79), and Egypt (95).

2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations

Despite some initial confusion about the tournament’s location, Morocco is set to host for the third time in a row. The 16 participating teams have been divided into four groups, with all teams in a group playing in a single round-robin phase and the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage, which comprises the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. The semifinalists will automatically qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The four losing quarterfinalists will play in an additional elimination round, with the winners of the two matches advancing to the FIFA Play-Off Tournament, an inter-confederation competition scheduled for late 2026 and February 2027 in which 10 teams from across the various continental football confederations will compete for three Women’s World Cup qualification slots.

List of Women’s Africa Cup of Nations winners

The Nigerian women’s football team qualified for the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cups by winning the knockout tournament on both occasions. Additionally, the Nigerian team has won all but three of the tournaments since the competition’s official inception in 1998, winning its 10th title in 2025 by overturning a two-goal deficit to defeat Morocco, 3–2. The only other countries to win are Equatorial Guinea (in 2008 and 2012) and South Africa (in 2022). Cameroon, Ghana, and Morocco have reached the final of the tournament but have never won. Notable players who have participated in WAFCON include Nigerian footballers Perpetua Nkwocha, Asisat Oshoala, and Michelle Alozie, Zambia’s Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, and Moroccan player Ghizlane Chebbak. A full list of winners can be found in the table below.

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